It’s been a while since an independently self-published indie game really shook up the gaming scene as the latest “flavor of the month.” With last year being marked by record-breaking layoffs and major commercial flops in the AAA space, it was smaller studios that ended up thriving. Black Myth: Wukong and Palworld both sold tens of millions of copies, while smaller indie titles like MiSide made its two-person development team millionaires in weeks.
2025 is already off to a strong start with both traditional and more progressive games making waves. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 built upon the historical accuracy of its predecessor introduced many subversive changes for its sequel, like the revisionist addition of Musa of Mali in medieval Bohemia and allowing for its protagonist Henry to be bisexual, with its sequel now offering gay romance.
Despite these woke inclusions, it sold two millions copies in under two weeks. Meanwhile, Monster Hunter Wilds continued Capcom’s pledge of globalist ideology by removing gender-locked armor and introducing a diverse cast of ugly NPCs. Regardless of the debate surrounding its design choices, the game sold over eight million copies in just three days.
Then there’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows, a franchise entry that should have been an easy win given the long-standing fan demand for a feudal Japan setting. However, Ubisoft’s decision to push diversity initiatives under ESG investment pressure led to widespread backlash. Rather than focusing on Japan’s rich history, the game revolves around Yasuke, a figure with little historical significance, portraying him as a samurai despite a lack of evidence supporting such a role.
From the very start, Assassin’s Creed Shadows faced controversy after controversy. Promotional materials included AI-generated artwork that featured stolen historical designs, and Ubisoft even attempted to sell a one-legged torii gate figurine, which is highly offensive.
On top of that, the game included real-world shrines and temples, some still family owned without consent, allowing players to desecrate them, the game itself features same-sex romantical options for both its protagonists, alongside insinuating that Yasuke, a fake Black samurai may be romantically linked to Oichi, the sister of Oda Nobunaga who is a direct ancestor of Japan’s Imperial family.
While a day-one patch was released to fix this, the backlash had already taken its toll.
To make things worse, the game launched with a host of issues, including bugs and poorly executed English voice acting, where honorifics were awkwardly vocalized in English. A particularly troubling discovery was that the core game files for the Japanese language were labeled as “Jap” instead of the standard “JPN” or “JP,” a term long considered an offensive slur, especially due to its historical use during World War II.
This is especially ironic given that the game was marketed as an authentic representation of Japanese culture and history. Adding to the controversy, the main protagonist, Yasuke, a Black man incorrectly depicted as a samurai in Feudal Japan spends much of the game fighting and killing native Japanese characters.
The situation worsens in the final boss fight, where Yasuke battles a Portuguese enemy while a Swahili rap song plays, prominently featuring the word “Chinja,” meaning “slaughter.” Whether deliberate or not, for those who reject the growing trend of racial deconstruction and the excessive sympathy extended to non-White groups at the expense of historical accuracy, Assassin’s Creed Shadows feels like an outright act of racial disrespect toward Japan, forcing a revisionist narrative that ignores the country’s cultural integrity in favor of external political messaging.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows had all the ingredients to be a hit, an Asian setting, a well-known franchise, and a built-in fanbase. But instead of celebrating history, Ubisoft chose to rewrite it, turning the game into a controversial mess that alienated many players. If not for its blatant disregard for Japanese culture and history, it could have sold millions. Instead, it floundered, struggling to attract players and reaching only ~47,000 concurrent users on Steam two days after release, peaking at just 64,825 players over its launch weekend, a disappointing showing for such a high-profile title.
Interestingly, the same gaming journalists who were quick to label Resident Evil 5 as racist for featuring a White protagonist and his Black female ally fighting through African villages have no issue with Ubisoft’s handling of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
This is the first time the franchise has ever made a real historical figure the main protagonist, and yet, the character chosen is Yasuke, a Black man in feudal Japan, who is portrayed as brutally cutting down native Japanese citizens. Somehow, that’s considered progressive, while past games with reversed racial dynamics were met with outrage. It’s a glaring double standard, proving that diversity and inclusivity only seem to be championed when it fits a particular narrative.
While Steam’s concurrent player counts do not directly reflect total sales, Ubisoft itself admitted to having squandered €20 million on two separate delays in an attempt to refine Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Originally slated for release in November of last year, the game was postponed to February, a window that would have seen it launch alongside Monster Hunter Wilds, a clash that likely would have resulted in an even greater failure.
It was then delayed once more to March, and now, here we are.
The latest buzzword being pushed by journalists is “players” and “player engagement,” with Ubisoft proudly proclaiming that Assassin’s Creed Shadows has surpassed two million players. However, this claim stands in stark contrast to the game’s underwhelming concurrent player counts.
Given that this large-scale AAA title spent years in development, with thousands of developers contributing, evidenced by its two-hour-long credits sequence its actual sales performance remains questionable. At best, Ubisoft may have sold over 100,000 copies on Steam alone, possibly double that across consoles, amounting to an estimated $14 million in revenue, excluding platform fees.
Even if one generously assumes that Steam accounted for only 20% of total sales, that would still amount to just 500,000 units, bringing revenue to approximately $35 million. However, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a game that likely exceeded $100 million in production costs.
Its player count alone speaks volumes about its underperformance. Despite gaming’s massive growth in scale over the years, the numbers Shadows has achieved remain stagnant compared to 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. This is particularly alarming given that Feudal Japan, a setting fans have eagerly anticipated for decades should have been a surefire success.
“Player engagement” is the new go-to buzzword, just like “return to form,” a vague phrase companies throw around to claim success even when their game flops. Thanks to Ubisoft+, players can access Assassin’s Creed Shadows and other Ubisoft games for just $20 a month, which means plenty of people are trying it without actually buying it.
Ubisoft, of course, is using this to spin a narrative, just like they did with Skull and Bones and XDefiant despite the latter recently being shut down.
They’re not the only ones doing this. EA and Microsoft rely on the same playbook, especially when their “woke” releases fail to make an impact in traditional sales. EA proudly announced that Dragon Age: The Veilguard had hit 1.5 million “players,” but in reality, a AAA RPG that spent upwards of seven plus years in development only reached a peak concurrent player count of 89,000 on Steam, a number still higher than what Assassin’s Creed Shadows has managed.
Yet Ubisoft wants everyone to believe Shadows is a massive hit, citing 2 million “players” in under a week, conveniently ignoring how much of that comes from Ubisoft+ subscriptions rather than full-price sales.
For many, spending $20 for a month of access makes far more sense than dropping $70 on a game outright, especially when it’s part of a franchise that’s struggling to stay relevant. Ubisoft still hasn’t released actual sales figures for Shadows, and there’s a good chance they’ll continue to avoid doing so in their next financial report.
Meanwhile, an indie game, Schedule I, made by first-time Australian developer TVGS (Tyler’s Video Game Studio), has overtaken Assassin’s Creed Shadows in Steam’s concurrent player counts. This contrast perfectly illustrates Ubisoft’s disconnect, while multibillion dollar companies have to prop up weak sales with engagement metrics, fresh indie titles like Schedule I are proving that players are more than willing to flock to something innovative and engaging rather than another bloated, woke corporate product.
Schedule I is a darkly comedic drug empire simulator where players assume the role of a chemistry teacher who turns to the illicit drug trade, managing the production and distribution of illegal substances while navigating the challenges posed by law enforcement and rival gangs.
The game first garnered significant attention during the February 2025 Steam Next Fest, where its free demo became the 10th-most played among thousands of upcoming titles. It peaked at over 33,000 concurrent players and earned an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on Steam, with a score of 98%.
Priced at $20 USD, with a 15% launch discount bringing it down to $17, Schedule I officially launched into Early Access on Steam, capturing the gaming community’s attention with its unique premise.
Since its full release, Schedule I has continued to grow in popularity, even surpassing the concurrent player count of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, peaking at 68,662 players on launch day.
Despite being developed without the backing of a massive corporation, Schedule I has shown how true player engagement can outweigh corporate marketing efforts. For a game of its scope, 60,000 players can lead to significant profit for TVGS. On the other hand, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, with its likely massive budget in exceedance of over a hundred millions dollars, would need to sell millions of copies to justify its costs.
However, its weak performance on Steam has forced Ubisoft to rely on live service subscribers to make the game seem more successful than it truly is, using these figures to mislead investors and create a positive buzz with the help of paid journalists.
Even more impressively, Schedule I claimed the #1 position on Steam’s Global Top Sellers list, relegating Assassin’s Creed Shadows to #4. This swift rise for a self-published indie game from a first-time developer is truly remarkable, particularly when compared to the heavily marketed AAA title from Ubisoft, which was released just under a week ago and would otherwise still maintain momentum if it were a earnest hot commodity.
While Assassin’s Creed Shadows was touted by journalists as a success after topping the charts for new releases on Steam, player numbers and critical analysis suggest otherwise.
On the other hand, Schedule I‘s success speaks to a larger trend in gaming, where indie titles that focus on creativity and player enjoyment are gaining traction, in contrast to the bloated budgets and corporate interference seen in AAA games like Shadows, which veers into a racially skewed take on Japanese history.
The success of Schedule I underscores the ability of indie developers to consistently disrupt the gaming market, particularly as the AAA industry increasingly struggles with bloated, underwhelming releases tainted by performative activism and progressive ideology. Many AAA titles are now plagued by an excessive focus on diversity and inclusivity, and a disregard for traditional representations of sex.
These corporatized games, in an attempt to appeal to broad demographics, often sanitize their content in fear of offending so-called marginalized groups, erasing traditional portrayals of women in favor of gender equalism and androgyny.
In doing so, they sacrifice creative integrity and repulse audiences, combined with increased development cycles thanks to incompetent DEI hiring practices this all results in developmental budgets ballooning higher, making their inevitable fall all the more severe.
When these projects eventually release, they frequently fail, costing parent companies hundreds of millions of dollars. This cycle of mismanagement backed by ESG funding leads to mass layoffs and closures, as the employees of one failed project simply moves to another, perpetuating the same issues.
The AAA gaming industry is struggling, entirely due to its ideological infiltration, backed by cost-effective DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) hiring and a corporate mandate to enforce ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria to garner increased investments. Meanwhile, indie games, by focusing on passion and authentic audience connection, are taking center stage more frequently.
Smaller studios that understand their audience and budget appropriately are primed to thrive in the inevitable gaming industry crash. The AAA industry is faltering, and games-as-a-service is just a temporary attempt to recoup losses. Eventually, these companies will collapse no matter how loud they scream and shout regarding “player counts” over sales.
Games should be made out of love and passion, not to push agendas and regressive politics. Masahiro Sakurai’s call for Japanese devs to make games for their own people is exactly what this industry needs to hear. DEI and ESG have corrupted even Japan’s biggest brands, leading to a loss of their identity as they try to pander to global audiences.
Much like how Lethal Company went viral in 2023, Schedule I shows that indie devs with fresh ideas can take on the AAA behemoths and win in regards to consumer satisfaction and profitability. This is a trend we’re going to see more of as AAA games continue to flop and players flock to indie gems that actually offer content they want, without all the enforced diversity garbage.
The success of Schedule I and the struggles of Assassin’s Creed Shadows highlight the shifting landscape of the gaming industry. Ubisoft and certain journalists have tried to frame Shadows as a win by emphasizing “player engagement” stats, but its dropping player count and underwhelming sales paint a different picture. Meanwhile, Schedule I, a self-published indie game from a first-time developer, has stolen the spotlight with its fresh concept, enthusiastic player base, and Steam numbers that outshine what should have been Ubisoft’s biggest Assassin’s Creed launch.
Schedule I stands as proof that creativity and player-first design can beat out even the biggest marketing budgets. Ubisoft, on the other hand, has some serious reevaluating to do. over corporate budgets and marketing hype, leaving Ubisoft with some hard lessons to learn.
